“Thiago Silva”

Sacred instrumentals aren’t to be handled lightly in the grime scene—just ask Stormzy’s doubters after he shot to prominence taking on Ruff Sqwad affiliate XTC’s “Functions on the Low.” Another hallmark production, titled “Pied Piper,” came from Prince Rapid of the same pioneering crew. Producer 169 brazenly interpolates the beat from it to form the basis of “Thiago Silva,” giving it a bass and percussion makeover whilst fragmenting the iconic melody and clicks. Its revivalism doesn’t play it safe so much as it does tastefully re-frame it as a hybrid. Young rapper Dave switches to a grime flow to join AJ Tracey, who's already turned heads with the soon-to-be classic “Naila.” The rising London pair channel their inner footballers to swap Nike, Nando’s, and Naruto references like one-two passes. They work as a tag team seamlessly, feints and all: “Man will get banged in the face by me—not my bredrin, banged in the face by me,” AJ boasts, before Dave taps in for his verse with “And me!”